The accessory market for motor vehicles in recent years has become a significant industry, and particularly for accessories provided through after-market product manufacturers to end consumers directly or through distributors and retail outlets. After-market products are typically owner-acquired and installed items, and both ornamental and mechanical devices, including lights and lighting devices, sound systems, air stream and ground effects including spoilers and fairings, wheels and tires, mechanical components including engine operating controllers, suspension modifying devices, and other electromechanical devices to accessorize motor vehicles from that provided by the original manufacturer.
Trucks have become a particularly popular segment of the motor vehicle industry. Trucks are used for a wide range of activities but particularly pickup trucks with open beds are used in construction and service industries and by individuals, which have needs to carry extended equipment or components in the bed of the truck. This equipment and components include ladders, poles, piping, lumber, and the like. Elevated frame member racks have been developed to facilitate the transportation and handling in pickup trucks items having these particular physical characteristics. Truck racks for pickup trucks include four corner posts that extend upwardly from the bed or sidewall of the bed of the pickup truck. Elongate side rails attach on each side of the bed to upper ends of two of the supports. The rails interconnect by transverse members. Such truck racks provide an elevated structure on which ladders, boards, poles, tools, and the like can be attached and transported.
Such truck racks are utilitarian in nature, and as such, have been satisfactory for handling construction and service requirements. However, with the growth in the truck market and the appreciation of trucks for ornamental and ordinary transportation purposes, such utilitarian truck racks lack the ornamental features many non-utility customers would seek for accessorizing a pickup truck. For example, accessory after market products such as ground effect fairings, airfoils, and spoilers are often painted to match the motor vehicle paint. However, it is impractical to customize currently available truck racks.
Further, pickup truck beds differ in size. Generally, pickup trucks have either a short bed or a long bed. However, the specific dimensions from one manufacturer of these short bed and long bed pickup trucks differ.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for a truck rack for pickup trucks that provide not only utilitarian features but meet expected ornamental accessorization requirements as well. It is to such that the present invention is directed.